


The Stars Look Very Different Today

by youjik33



Category: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-16
Updated: 2014-01-16
Packaged: 2018-01-08 22:18:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1138059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youjik33/pseuds/youjik33
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cheryl wants to know more about his adventures.  Walter finds some of it a little awkward to explain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Stars Look Very Different Today

_I can't believe I just did that._

He's been thinking that a lot lately. But when Walter glances over at Cheryl, she's smiling, and when she notices him looking she squeezes his hand. Even after everything that's happened over the past few weeks, being near her makes his heart pound, and he isn't sure what to say.

"Well," he finally says, at the exact same instant she says "So," and they both laugh.

"So," Cheryl says again, clearing her throat, "You got Number 25 from Sean, huh?"

"Uh. Not... exactly. I did meet up with him, though..." He trails off, because the reality of that magazine cover hasn't quite sunk in yet. "That _asshole_ ," Walter says, and then covers his mouth sheepishly. "Sorry. It's just, he wouldn't tell me what the picture was of, even though I kept bugging him about it."

"You didn't look at it?" she asks.

"I didn't." He can't really explain _why_ he didn't, either. By the time he actually had the negative, what the picture was actually of didn't seem that important. 

"Oh my God," Cheryl says, "Don't you wish you could have seen the look on the beard guy's face when he saw what he was putting on the cover?"

For a second Walter lets himself picture it, Ted Hendricks' eyes bugging out of his head like a cartoon character, making one of those _ah-WOO-gah_ sound effects -- but only for a second, because Cheryl's hand is warm and soft and he still can't quite believe he's holding it. 

"Where did you end up finding him?" she asks.

"Himalayas."

"Seriously? That's amazing! Some time you're going to have to tell me the whole story. Actually I'm a little jealous, my passport is about to expire and the only thing I ever used it for was getting to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls."

"Maybe we could go somewhere. Sometime. I mean, in the future. When we're, uh, employed. If you're interested." 

He's afraid he might have pushed that one a little too far – they've only just made plans for a first date, what on earth is he doing? -- but she says "Sure," and sounds like she means it. "So what was the best thing you did? I mean, between helicopter rides and punching a shark--"

"I didn't punch the shark, I hit it with my briefcase."

"My mistake. Anyway, out of everything you did, what was the best thing? The thing that you'd most want to do again?"

"Uh," he says. There is one thing coming to mind, but he's not sure he wants to bring it up. "The shark fight was pretty cool in retrospect. Though at the time it was mostly terrifying."

"...Walter, are you blushing?"

He _is_ blushing. He can feel it, his whole face warm, right to the tips of his ears. "I played soccer with Sean and a bunch of Sherpas. In the mountains," he says.

"Really?" She sounds impressed, and he realizes that he could probably get away with leaving it at that, but he doesn't want to keep anything from her.

"Yeah, and it was great, but then some stuff happened right after that..."

\------------------

 

Meeting Sean for the first time didn't _feel_ like meeting Sean for the first time. Sixteen years of communication, indirect as most of it had been, certainly counted for something. That was why Walter felt comfortable enough to be angry with him about the missing negative, and comfortable enough to forgive him pretty much instantly. By the time they had to wrap up the soccer game due to the fading light he couldn't think of Sean as anything but a friend. They sat side by side in front of Walter's tent passing a thermos of tea back and forth between them as the stars spread across the sky. He'd never seen so many before, or the Milky Way stretching to the horizon. He might have tried taking a picture of it if he'd thought to bring an actual camera. Walter pressed his shoulder against Sean's and took a swig of tea. 

"We would've won," Walter said, "if we'd kept going."

"Sure you would."

They sat in silence for a few moments more, and then Walter asked something that had been bothering him for a while. "Should you even be running around? Didn't you get shot recently?"

"Oh, that," Sean said with a rumble of laughter. "I probably made it sound worse than it was. It was just a graze, really." He pulled up the edge of his shirt and flicked his flashlight on, showing off about an inch of shiny white scar tissue along his right side. "Took the stitches out days ago."

"Wow," Walter said, leaning forward to get a better look. "How'd it happen?"

"Just a misunderstanding. No big deal." 

Sean turned the flashlight back off, and Walter, blinking in the sudden darkness, asked, "Are you even a real person?"

This prompted another laugh. "You ask the weirdest questions." He reached over and put his hand on top of Walter's. "I'm as real as you are." 

"Yeah?" Walter murmured. The air was turning cold, but the tea and the exercise left him feeling warm and drowsy and comfortable, and he didn't much feel like moving.

"Hey, Walter?" Sean asked after a moment. 

"Mm?"

"Could I kiss you?"

The question was so out of left field that the only thing Walter could say in response was _"Why?"_

"You're here, and I like you, and I want to." 

Walter swallowed, and turned to look at him; Sean was smiling in the starlight, and the smile made the wrinkles in his forehead and the corners of his eyes deepen. "So, uh, you're gay?"

"I don't like labels," Sean said, shrugging. His hand was still on top of Walter's. "I guess when I'm attracted to someone, their gender just isn't that important to me. There's probably not a word for it, anyway."

"Pansexual," Walter said, and found himself smiling when Sean's eyes narrowed. 

"I don't like labels," Sean repeated.

"I took a thing online once, like a quiz, and I don't know how much stock to put in it because it was only like ten questions, but it said I was a 2 on the Kinsey scale."

"I don't know what any of that means."

"I guess," Walter said thoughtfully, "it means that when Sean O'Connell wants to kiss me on a mountain, I'm gonna say yes."

Sean cupped Walter's cheek in his hand, staring into his eyes like they were in movie or something, and Walter's heart suddenly felt like it was in his throat. But he let his eyes slide closed as Sean leaned in, and when it came, the kiss was soft and gentle and lovely. 

"Okay," Walter said as they drew apart. His breath was coming in quick pants, which was only partially due to the elevation. "That was nice. Really nice." 

"You're a great kisser," Sean said.

"Me? I don't know if I can take any credit." Walter realized that had been his first kiss in two years, at least, but that was kind of a depressing thought and he made himself drop it before counting out the exact number of months.

"You should," Sean said. His hands were on Walter's waist, just resting there, warm and solid. "This is kind of a two-man job, it's not going to work if we don't both do our part." 

So Walter kissed him again, liking the way Sean's beard prickled his fingertips when he reached up to touch his jaw.

"It's getting cold," Sean murmured.

"Yeah."

"You want to move to the tent?"

"...what?"

"Hey," Sean said, rubbing Walter's shoulders, which had tensed up involuntarily. "I'm not trying to push you into anything. I just thought it'd be nice to stay up and talk, and if we don't get inside soon we're going to regret it."

"Oh," Walter said. "Yeah, that makes sense." 

It was almost like a sleepover, except that Walter's junior high-era sleepovers had mostly involved playing Atari games and drinking two-liters of Mountain Dew straight out of the container and absolutely no making out in a shared sleeping bag. Sean was true to his word, too; all they did was kiss, for what seemed like hours.

"I can't say I expected this when I came to find you," Walter admitted eventually. "I probably wouldn't have--" He sighed. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"The wallet."

"Oh," Sean said. "I'm sure you had your reasons." 

But he still sounded hurt, and Walter felt like he owed him an explanation. "I shouldn't have tossed it. I was just really upset – you know I went to Iceland looking for you?"

"You did?" Sean chuckled. "You're tenacious."

"Not really. I couldn't catch up, and then I got fired--"  
"You what?" Sean's arms tightened around Walter's shoulders. "They seriously-- you want me to write to the magazine for you?"

"No-- no, thank you, I really appreciate it, but it's fine. There's also... this woman I work with..." He hesitated, because it seemed like a really awkward time to bring this up, but he needed to talk to _someone_. "I've been pretty interested in her for a while, and I thought maybe we had a connection, but she's just not interested in me that way. So, I don't know, I guess I was just feeling pretty down."

"Not interested, huh? Did she tell you that?"

"Well, no, I didn't exactly ask her directly..."

"Then you don't know for sure, do you?"

"I guess not." Walter fidgeted a little. "Sorry, this is weird. This... thing we're doing, I guess I don't really know what it means. Does it mean anything?"

"Everything means something," Sean said. "That doesn't mean we have to put words to it. That's why I love photography. You take a picture, and you don't have to tell people how they're supposed to feel about it. You just show them, and they feel something, whether they have a word for that feeling or not."

"...I'm not sure if you're brilliant or just full of crap."

Sean pressed his mouth against the junction of Walter's neck and shoulder. Walter could feel his lips on his skin, curved into a smile. "You make a good little spoon, Walter," Sean said.

"You're a good big spoon," Walter replied. He may not have had words to describe how he was feeling, but it didn't matter. He just closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment.

\------------------

Cheryl is staring at him, her mouth hanging open slightly, and Walter takes a step back, jamming both hands into the front pocket of his shirt. He's still holding the envelope containing his severance pay, and fiddles with the edges.

"Wow," she says finally. 

"Sorry," he mutters.

"Sorry? For what?" She laughs, and he laughs too, though he's not sure why. "You shouldn't be embarrassed, that's _awesome_. Sean O'Connell. Wow. He must be pretty into you."

Of course he is, and that seems so obvious now that Walter feels a little idiotic. He wonders how long Sean had followed him before taking that picture. When he remembers Sean's caginess about the whole thing he's overcome with equal parts irritation and affection.

"You're not... weirded out, or anything?" he asks tentatively.

"No! Of course not. Surprised, yeah. You're full of surprises. So, a two, huh? I took one of those once and I was like a .5." She grins, her eyes sparkling. "Anything else you can think of that I should know?"

"Umm, I'm left-handed."

"Oooh, _exotic_."

"Yeah," he says, relieved. "Special scissors and everything." He trails off, because she's closed the distance between them.

Walter's had dozens of first kisses with Cheryl, everywhere from the top of the Eiffel Tower to a damaged escape pod in danger of burning up entering the atmosphere of a foreign planet. But when she does lean in to kiss him, it's in front of a Starbucks, and pigeons are fighting over a hot dog bun next to his shoe, and it's better than he could ever have imagined.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my goodness, did I love this movie. I've seen it six times so far. I don't know if this thing I wrote did it any justice, but it seems clear on rewatching that Sean was totally crushing on Walter all along, and I just wanted to do something exploring that while still keeping with the movie's PG rating -- and not doing anything to break up Walter and Cheryl, who are adorable.
> 
> Title shamelessly ripped from the lyrics to Space Oddity, because titles are hard.


End file.
